Hurricane Matthew has weakened over the past 24 hours and is now a category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph and is currently centred just off the South Carolina coast.

Matthew made landfall just to the north-east of Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday bringing with it widespread and locally record breaking flooding and destructive winds overnight. Savannah International Airport recorded 264 mm of rainfall, and there are reports of as much as 450 mm (17.5 inches) in some places. Norfolk, Virginia, reported 103 mm in just 6 hours this morning.

Image courtesy of NOAA

Matthew is currently offshore and expected to turn east into the Atlantic Ocean today weakening further. However it could still bring some damaging winds and a further 200-300 mm, locally 500 mm of rainfall to parts of North Carolina and Virginia.

Image courtesy of NOAA

There remains some uncertainty as to the eventual fate of Matthew, however it now looks increasingly likely that the post-tropical remains of the storm will be absorbed by a frontal system on Monday or Tuesday. It is looking unlikely it will interact with Tropical Storm Nicole or re-affect the Bahamas later this week.

The death toll in Haiti due to the effects of Matthew is now almost 900, with an estimated 350,000 people in need of assistance. There are currently reports of 10 deaths in the US as a result of Hurricane Matthew.

Elsewhere in the world

Tropical Storm Aere is currently almost stationary in the South China Sea, aound 200 miles Southeast of Hong Kong. The storm is likely to remain slow moving for another 24 hours or so. Aere is likely to bring some heavy rain to southernmost parts of Guangdong, possibly also to Hong Kong and Hainan early next week.

Further Information

Official warnings for the latest tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic are issued by the USNational Hurricane Center. In the western North Pacific warnings are issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The Met Office routinely supplies predictions of cyclone tracks from its global forecast model to regional meteorological centres worldwide, which are used along with guidance from other models in the production of forecasts and guidance. We also provide updates on current tropical storms via @metofficestorms on Twitter.